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FF. Chapter 14: Manumission and Colonization Schemes

Page 1

[CHAPTER 15]
[Page 1]
MANUMISSION AND COLONIZATION SCHEMES
For many years colonization was a topic of extreme importance in the South and such schemes, for a while, eclipsed the deeper animosities that had grown up between the slaveholders and the Abolitionists. During the American Revolution Thomas Jefferson proposed that a plan for the colonization of the free people of color be incorporated into the revised code of Virginia.1 Jefferson and the more advanced thinkers of the South seemed to have been in favor of a general emancipation with subsequent colonization, but there was a different type of Southerner who wished to be rid of the presence of free Negroes in Southern communities, and who was opposed to emancipation of the slaves.
Dr. Jonathan Edwards, in his famous Sermon on the Slave Trade in 1791, proposed that a large body of slaves be manumitted at once in the Southern States and in this manner the number of free Negroes would become large enough to warrant the appointment of overseers from among themselves who would be charged with the task of inspecting the morals and management of the rest.2 In 1793 Dr. Hopkins, who was called “the ablest champion of the colored race in his day,” was among the first persons to suggest the colonization of the emancipated Negro. In his address before the Providence Anti-Slavery Society “he more fully developed the idea” of such a general movement.3
In 1800, following a conspiracy of Negroes around Richmond, the Virginia Legislature at its next meeting requested the governor of the State to enter into

The unpublished manuscript "The Negro in Louisiana" is a work begun by the Dillard (University) Project in 1942, an arm of the WPA's Federal Writer's Project. After the dissolution of the unit, Marcus Christian maintained and edited the document in hopes of eventual publication. It is reproduced here as an annotated transcript, with original typos, chapters, and paginations preserved.

[CHAPTER 15]
[Page 1]
MANUMISSION AND COLONIZATION SCHEMES
For many years colonization was a topic of extreme importance in the South and such schemes, for a while, eclipsed the deeper animosities that had grown up between the slaveholders and the Abolitionists. During the American Revolution Thomas Jefferson proposed that a plan for the colonization of the free people of color be incorporated into the revised code of Virginia.1 Jefferson and the more advanced thinkers of the South seemed to have been in favor of a general emancipation with subsequent colonization, but there was a different type of Southerner who wished to be rid of the presence of free Negroes in Southern communities, and who was opposed to emancipation of the slaves.
Dr. Jonathan Edwards, in his famous Sermon on the Slave Trade in 1791, proposed that a large body of slaves be manumitted at once in the Southern States and in this manner the number of free Negroes would become large enough to warrant the appointment of overseers from among themselves who would be charged with the task of inspecting the morals and management of the rest.2 In 1793 Dr. Hopkins, who was called “the ablest champion of the colored race in his day,” was among the first persons to suggest the colonization of the emancipated Negro. In his address before the Providence Anti-Slavery Society “he more fully developed the idea” of such a general movement.3
In 1800, following a conspiracy of Negroes around Richmond, the Virginia Legislature at its next meeting requested the governor of the State to enter into